A Hero's Return

By Todd Curran
In 1944, Private John Garfield Johnston was stationed at the heart of war torn Europe in de Haan, Belgium. Over 60 years later, his friend Susan Raby-Dunne is taking Garfield back there to visit his brother's final resting place and be honoured with a ceremony at the National Liberation Museum in the Netherlands.
Susan is raising funds for the September odyssey by pre-selling copies of a book she is putting together called The Last Day Of WW II: Civilian Memories Of The Liberation. Although the book is not finished yet, it will be a collection of stories told by people who were in Europe during the liberation. “My goal is to raise $5,000 in book sales for the trip,” she says. “The book will be mailed out to everyone who bought a copy in advance and be finished by the first week of November. I took a lot of notes about Garfield's story while he was in Europe and it's pretty amazing.”
Garfield lost his brother in the war shortly before being wounded by a sniper in Holland and shipped home in 1944. He hasn't been back to Europe since the liberation. “I know they're awfully grateful and still take good care of the graves generations later,” he says. “It's pretty nice to know that.”
Accompanying the book launch is an event featuring liberation stories told live by the people who were there. “I would like to invite people who were in Europe during the liberation to share their stories and have them considered for the book,” Susan says. “We just have to limit them to two typed pages in length.”
Anyone interested in donating can do so at the RBC Bank display in Turner Valley or pre-purchase a copy of The Last Day Of WW II: Civilian Memories Of The Liberation by calling Susan at 403-804-6545 or emailing her at:
bonfire@xplornet.com.

See the story on page 10 for an example of an accepted submission for Susan’s book.